DRAFT REGISTRATION DROPS STATE TRAILS U.S. AVERAGE.

Byline: Bill Hillburg Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - One out of every five California men is dodging what is left of the draft, Selective Service System officials said Wednesday.

The agency's first-ever state breakdown of compliance with its mandatory registration rule reported that only 79 percent of male Californians born in 1980 had signed up within 30 days of their 18th birthdays.

The report was based on registration and Census Bureau data.

New Hampshire led the nation with a 95 percent compliance rate while Hawaii rated dead last at 73 percent.

The national average was 88 percent, down from the 95 percent recorded in 1990.

Under the Selective Service law enacted in 1980, all males are required to register for the draft within 30 days of their 18th birthday. They remain eligible for call-up until their 26th birthday. Women are exempt from the draft, a rule that was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1981.

The draft itself has been suspended since 1973 and can be reinstated only by Congress. The armed services have been an all-volunteer force since 1973.

Rep. Steven Kuykendall, R-Torrance, on hand to help launch a new Selective Service outreach and education campaign, blamed California's poor performance on the state's high number of high school dropouts, non-English speakers and undocumented immigrants.

Most Selective Service programs and penalties for noncompliance are aimed at high school and college students.

Selective Service Director Gil Coronado said the agency plans to work through schools and community groups to spread the word about registration.

He also took pains to assure immigrant communities that there is no sharing of information with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

``It's a myth that, once you register, La Migra (INS) is going to show up at your door,'' Coronado said.

Kuykendall, a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran, and other Selective Service supporters called the program, which is independent of the Pentagon, ``America's insurance policy.''

Several other House members, including Republicans Stephen Horn of Lakewood and Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach, see the SSS as an anachronism with a $24.5 million annual budget that could better be spent elsewhere. They are among 15 co-sponsors of a bill that would mothball the agency, reinstating it only in a national emergency.

Opponents argue that, despite recurring recruiting problems, the nation's active duty and reserve forces are adequate to defend the nation in the post-Cold War era.

Penalties for failure to register, including a five-year federal prison sentence and a fine of up to $250,000, are rarely invoked by the SSS. But the agency has plenty of other punitive measures at its disposal.

Violators are barred from receiving federal college loans and grants and job training benefits, or from becoming naturalized citizens. Several states bar them from attending public colleges. The California Legislature is considering a law that would require registration in order to obtain a driver license or a state identification card.

The Selective Service registry currently contains the names of 13.5 million men.